Another "Transformative" Project

Jeffery Dodson, executive director of the Hudson Housing Authority, regularly describes HHA's proposed redevelopment as "transformative." On Tuesday, a new project was presented to the Planning Board that was also described as "transformative." The project, which has the working title "Waterfront Village," was presented by Ben Fain, who brought us Kitty's, The Caboose, and Mr. Cat Brasserie and owns the The Wick Hotel and the historic Robert Taylor House, the former which is being renovated and the latter meticulously restored. The new project will cover a 6.82-acre site at the end of South Second Street, which, until thirty or so years ago, was the location of a factory that made humidifiers and similar products. 

The project will be carried out in three phases. Phase 1 involves a grocery store, parking, landscaping, and the creation of a street grid that extends the street pattern of the rest of the city to this site.

Every proposed street on the site would have sidewalks on both sides. In the center, there would be a large open space, "almost like a central park." 

Phase 2 of the project involves the construction of a retail building, "intentionally angled toward the train station."

Phase 3 of the project is an apartment building, which is currently proposed to have 150 units.

The project was described as "an extension of Hudson," a "walkable, mixed-use neighborhood," "incorporating a lot of landscaping to make the pedestrian experience enjoyable." Fain, who told the Planning Board he "really drank the Kool-Aid on believing what Hudson can be," predicted the district "could become the most welcoming section of Hudson." It was also said that, with the development, there would be "a real destination for the Second Street stairs," which lead down to the site from Allen Street.

Members of the Planning Board raised a number of issues. Sara Black wanted to know how this project differed from the Kearney project proposed for Mill Street, maintaining they were both on dead-end streets and in a flood plain. She also asked about the intended market for the residential units. Someone else raised concerns about the project interfering with the views from Deer Alley. Ron Bogle, who chairs the Planning Board, opined, "You are disturbing the lives of the people on Tanners Lane in way they cannot even imagine." Concern was expressed about possible exclusivity in programming for the open space.

A surprising concern was expressed by Veronica Conca, who maintained that Hudson "has never had a big supermarket" and seemed to imply that, in the divine order of things, Hudson residents were meant go to Greenport if they wanted to buy paper towels or toilet paper or anything that went beyond simply the ingredients needed to prepare a meal. She seemed to have forgotten, if she ever knew, that Sam's Supermarket operated at 310 Warren Street (now the gymnasium of The Maker Hotel) until 1994, and reopened briefly as the Hudson Supermarket a few years later. 

Her comment also revealed that she had no idea that Hudson once had several supermarkets. There was an A&P at the corner of Seventh and Columbia streets, where Proprietors Hall now stands.

Photo by Gibson

There was a First National Store (the chain now known as Finast) at 751 Warren Street, in the building that currently houses the Social Security Administration office.

Photo courtesy Bob Tomaso

The building at 713 Union Street, which now houses the Mental Health Association of Columbia & Greene Counties, was originally a Grand Union.

 

Photo by Gibson

And there were others, as folks who grew up in Hudson in the '50s, '60s, and '70s will likely recall. 

According to the materials submitted to the Planning Board, the grocery store/supermarket is proposed to be 15,915 square feet. A Google search yielded this information about the average size of supermarkets in the United States:

The average conventional grocery store in the United States is approximately 38,000 to 42,000 square feet. While traditional supermarkets hover around 40,000 square feet, the industry is seeing a shift toward smaller, more urban formats (12,000-25,000 sq ft), while large, suburban supercenters can exceed 187,000 square feet.

Of interest, back in 2018, at a DRI public workshop, a retail specialist on the planning team assigned to Hudson reported that Hudson residents spent $5 million annually at the supermarkets of Greenport. She suggested that Hudson could support a 10,000 square foot grocery store. Gossips research at the time found that the only supermarket chain with stores as small as 10,000 square feet was Trader Joe's. That information is eight years old, and there is no indication that the grocery store proposed as part of this project will be part of a chain.

At the meeting on Tuesday, the Planning Board determined the project to be an unlisted action under SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review) and declared itself lead agency in the SEQR process.

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